1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic three dimensional visualization system, and, particularly, to a stereoscopic three dimensional visualization system for dentistry, surgery, or industrial applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chronic back and neck pain is a common ailment experienced by dentists as a result of their work environment. In order to see into the oral cavity, dentists generally sit above the head of a patient who is placed in a reclined position. For example, a dentist may sit along the right side of a patient adjacent to his/her head, e.g., at an eight, nine, or ten o'clock position, to view objects within the patient's oral cavity. However, even in this position, a dentist must lean and crane to obtain the necessary view of the oral cavity. Due to the repetitive leaning and craning, chronic back and neck pain may result.
In an attempt to help reduce the constant leaning and craning of a dentist, surgical type microscopes have been adapted for use in dentistry. While these microscopes provide magnification of the oral cavity, these microscopes still require that a dentist look into the ocular unit in order to view the image of the oral cavity generated by the microscope. Additionally, the ocular unit of the microscope is generally positioned on a tubular body that is mounted to an articulating stand. Thus, in order to view the oral cavity of a patient through the ocular unit, the dentist must position his/her head substantially adjacent to the ocular unit, which may require the same leaning and craning as viewing the oral cavity unassisted.
Microscope systems have traditionally provided an assistant's co-observation tube as an option. While the use of a co-observation tube might be helpful in providing the assistant with the same magnified field of view as that of the dentist, any microscope movement requires that the assistant correspondingly moves his/her head to maintain visual contact with the operating field. Frequently, the co-observation tube might be moved by the dentist in a manner that makes it difficult for the assistant to accommodate with normal working posture, without the interruption for adjusting and repositioning the co-observation tube. Moreover, even if the image generated for the assistant is optically rotated to provide the correct perspective, the depth of the assistant's stereoscopic optical image may be artificially shallow as a result of splitting only a single beam of the stereoscopic light path to generate the assistant's image.
In an attempt to eliminate the need for the dentist to view the images created by the microscope through an ocular unit, three dimensional (“3-D”) stereoscopic video has been utilized. These systems allow the dentist to project the image created by the microscope onto a screen positioned in front of the dentist. The dentist's movements may then be based on the image created on the screen. As a result, the dentist's view is no longer posture dependent, i.e., is no longer dictated by the design of the microscope. However, the current 3-D units are configured to attach to the tubular unit, i.e., the body, of a surgical microscope and simply transmit the image received therethrough.
As a result, the 3-D units are limited by the microscope design in their image generation, flexibility, and size. For example, in order to provide an image for an assistant seated at an angle of approximately 90° relative to the dentist, the image created by the 3-D video system is simply spliced and fed to a second projector or monitor. Thus, the assistant must work in the oral cavity utilizing a generated stereoscopic image that provides an incorrect perspective for the assistant which is rotated approximately 90° relative to the assistant's viewing position.